Catherine J. Pondozzi

Absolutely!!! This book was absolutely fascinating from beginning to end. All the i's were dotted & the t's crossed when it came to all the characters & story line. Getting to the bottom of the disapearance of the ancient Indian culture all the way to the search for the massive treasure this book never disappointed me as a reader. All of the characters were strong in thier presence which always lends a special gift & the narrator just made my day. Kudos to the authors for giving the ending a nice closure I wasn't expecting that. Preston & Childs really did their homework on this book & included tons of historical details....love that!.

Finding the hidden city.

Any of the meal preparations by the chef

The very beginning of the search & the ending

MORE!

i don't know

This book is nothing to write home about. For one thing the murder plot gets repetitive & boring real fast & any avid reader, movie buff or TV guru could quickly figure out why the murders are happening & what the main plot is although nothing comes to light until the end. So to begin with so there is no challenge there. The main female character seems to have a lot of extraordinary talents but can’t seem to handle them when under real pressure. She is in constant self analysis & blame of herself & those around her to a point of becoming nauseating & repetitious. Even after nearly getting killed several times in this book she still plunders on in a cloud of resistance, confusion & inability to stop. (?) She waffles from always believing she is right, getting testy, to having a huge chip on her shoulder. The story line becomes too long & drawn out with the story based on mainly conversational which to me lacks a balanced with what could have been some interesting background narrative. And the relationship between the main female character & the FBI sounds just way too loose, unorganized & unbelievable.
The narrator was pretty good although I could still hear the female tone in the numerous male voices. So in a case where there is a lot of conversation I would prefer a male & female narrator.

She was overworked.

No

Yes I like the way the authors come up with such good story plots. They never sieze to surprise me.

Any of the Pendergast books

Thye were great & so was this one

sure, but can't stay awake that long

I never buy printed books if I can help it.

I particularly appreciated the ending that showed compassion for the poor villian. That I was not expecting.

the young teenage character that hooked up with Pendergast

no but you might add get scared of the dark to that question.

This book seems to be setting some new material for future writing. And I have no problem with that. It was still filled with mystery & intrigue none-the-less & I enjoyed it

the variety of the story line which just kept getting more & more mysterious.

OH yes, definately, without a doubt, & then some too.

He has the talent to bring the reader right into the book as though they are totally involved.

I just thoroughly enjoyed the adventures of Pendergast

Keep 'em comin!

The last three quarters of the book.

That is hard to say. There were new characters introduced & others expanded on.

Always a pleasure to hear him narrate

Yes

This book was outstanding! However, I have to admit I was slightly confused when, although I can understand the reasoning it began with a repeat of the last scene of the prior book. Also I had a hard time in the very beginning with some of the author’s writing choices for what could be called the ‘Pendergast miracle dedication, strength & action’ scenarios. The almost inhuman hardships that Pendergast goes through in the very beginning of the book were really over the top for me & it was just too much for me to swallow. I don't know about other readers, but when the main good guys get injured or hurt I bleed along with them. BUT as the book continued the story lines improved tremendously & I became totally mesmerized by more sensational new plot introductions & further explanation of prior book plots. This book was like getting unexpected presents I wasn’t expecting. It was just like a 3D movie where the audience starts to duck least they get hit with the action. Right up until the end it was hard to stop listening to what was going to happen next. I don’t know how these two authors can unwind enough to go to sleep at night after writing a book like this…..it is that good!

Because I always learn something & generally this leads me to other interesting information. For example, the TV show Jane went on to star in "Glee," was one I hadn't chosen to watch. Probably because I started watching it somewhere in the middle of the series & by then it didn’t make much sense to me. It was like watching a movie in the middle of it. Anyway I ordered the pilot of Glee & thoroughly enjoyed it.

Jane herself, because I appreciated her honestly & candor & her biography gave me a much deeper understanding of her life & her acting experiences. And it just goes to show people are much more than the covers they wear around themselves like a book. In Janes case her personal life became an acting experience. I began noticing Jane when she played the therapist for 'Charlie,' for the two & a half men series. Being a therapist myself I thought her performance was very beleivable. It wasn't so much what she said but how she said her lines & how she appeared to the audience. She carried herself & her part with a great deal of assured confidence. And dealing with the stars of that show who were (always clowning around) was no easy feat. As an actor watching her act with Charlie Sheen & others was always fun to watch. She seemed to always get behind him & swat him on the back of the head with her lines without him even noticing.
Her book was enlightening & i am sure helpful to others who may be going through similar challenges.

I always adored Carol Burnett. As a comedian she is the best & her foreward was a real tribute to Jane.

Any book could use a follow up if life continues to be ever changing & interesting.

I was really looking forward to this latest book Creole Belle by James Lees Burke, & as usual I enjoyed the narrator Will Patton. But after I finished listening to this book it I wasn’t sure how to review it. As the book progress it became apparent that the two veteran police officers Cleat & Dave were having both health & mental issues bordering on being tormented, probably from the fact they were both shot & nearly killed in the previous book, along with their war experiences. However, as the book progressed the story line began to get darker. There was quite a bit of mention of death, ghosts & confusion with just what was happening. It went from oil spill sabotage on a huge scale which caused environment devastation (true enough) to oil rig explosions, to The Vietnam war, to the Holocaust, to murders, kidnaping, alcoholism, dope & a good bit of violence thrown in for good measure. And that says nothing about some of the characters with sick & diabolical minds. Or the seemingly hopelessness of the good guys coming out ahead, in fact I am still not sure they did, as another round of bullets hit the stars at the end of the story. Call me silly, but I kept feeling like I was having cognitive dissonance not understanding whether or not the two police man actually had a handle on what they were trying to accomplish as the story line thickened like a noose around their neck. Or whether they made any kind of positive difference as the story plot played out. Yes, the lives of some of the peoples were saved & the bad guys were killed, but I got the impression that the authors message was believe it or not, this is how the world actually is today & it certainly wasn’t a pleasant picture, in fact it was depressing. So I guess I will have to leave it up to the other readers to decide what they think.

probably

He was great

At time yes, at time hard

The mystery that never seemed to stop. Hidden plots & secrets well kept. Villians galore.

The ending where I am still waiting to see how some of it turns out, & find out if Pendergast still lives? And talk about what goes around comes around.....Man.

I JUST LOVE HIS NARRATION. Great job on the Count. he can easily flip from one character to another while still keeping his audience enthrolled. And that ain't easy to do. Most people cannot even keep their own character believable in conversation.

Yes, but give me a break, I have to get some sleep sometime.

i want to go on record & say Preston & Child & Brick really spoil their book audience! Seriously. I don't know why it is but readers seem to have an expectation about books & of authors, or plots, etc. It is like the movies have gotten, no one wants to see a movie unless it is bigger, better & more explosive than the last. And then they feel free to criticise what does not come up to their expectations. I think there is something wrong with this picture. I don't think a publisher or author can ever know for sure what a reader wants. I know, I know that is why they have reviews, but even that doesn't explain why readers can get the opinions they come up with. Maybe their hair do didn't look right or they were having an off day or their scrambled eggs tasted good one day & not the next. So you should know that I appreciate your candor in allowing both good & not so good reviews to be published, but I do lean on the majority of votes.

Anyway I want to thank the authors for their footnote about mentioning the best mystery book ever written - "The Woman in White." published around 1860 (sorry folks, look up the author because if I leave this menu I may lose everything I have written). Preston & Child confessed & sort of half heartedly apologized for slightly borrowing the character of "Count Fusco." Ingenious! When in America, Italy, England or France do like they do. Of course I had to buy & listen to this particular book too & the critics were absolutely right! It is the best mystery book ever written.

If your readers ever do decide to read or listen to this book they will undoubtedly realize how vast the English language actually is & how this author used this to his highest ability. However, this just might drive some of the avid readers insane. Today a person cannot wait for a sentence to end. Oh well, what a surprise! At least any critical reviews today can never come back on either this wonderful mystery book or the author, however patience is required. The votes are in & counted. And in the book Brimsone the Count is wonderfully resurrected as a major player once again. Way to go guys!

As soon as I finished this book cliff hanging book I purchased the next one! How could I not? Brilliant narration, plenty of suspense, lots of southern charm & history. At times I could not tell who was the bad guy/good guy (or women). The Cleat & Dave characters were action packed throughout the book & easy to follow in their concept for justice & having both experience & age in their corner just made things they went through just that more believable. The plot got thicker than the fog down south which added more & more mystery to each chapter. The only thing that kept me from listening to this book non-stop was my desperate need to sleep at times. Good thing I keep my kindle close to me in bed.
In the next book I can't wait to see if Dave shoots Cleat if he starts smoking again.